Higher than an Angel's Wings
by BelleDayNight
Summary: The final moments of Chrno and Rosette's lives and the immortality of their love.


_A/N: This is my contribution to my favorite anime couple: Chrno and Rosette. This is my version of how their great saga ended. BelleDayNight_

**Higher than an Angel's Wings**

He watched her from the shadows. It amazed him still after knowing her for so many years, just how the mere sight of her could lift his spirits. Right now she was holding her younger brother's hand.

Rosette was finally reunited with Joshua, only, he was greatly traumatized. Some days were better than others, and he remembered his beloved big sister quite accurately. Today was one of the more common days where he smiled politely but with no hint of recognition.

Idly, Chrno scratched his head, the area where his horns once grew. He had them back, but he knew he would never wear them again. His life was linked with Rosette's life. The pocket watch hanging around her neck on the heavy chain wed them more securely than any golden ring could ever do.

If he was to replace his horns his bond with Rosette would be severed. He didn't want to shorten her lifespan. The fact that anytime he used his powers he drained her spirit destroyed him inside.

She was dying before his eyes. She wasn't the first to sacrifice her life for his, but she would certainly be the last. He knew that life without her would be unbearable. He survived the death of Magdalena. Rosette had saved him then.

His feelings for Rosette were incomparable to what he felt half a century before for another woman. It was Rosette that he belonged to completely: body, heart, mind, and soul.

How many obstacles had they faced together? Their bond was forged ever since she and her brother discovered him in the tomb a decade ago. His friendship with Rosette taught him about love and enjoying life.

Aion had promised so much. Chrno had given up so much. Now all he did was take greedily from the wealth of love and hope that Rosette offered. He lost her once before, and he would not be able to survive the loss of her again.

She looked up from her brother's bedside and smiled at Chrno. The sight of her warm affection caused his heart to lurch painfully in his chest. It was so unfair. She was all he wanted and what he needed to survive.

It was cruel that fate should cut them asunder from life by the very bond which linked them. Never did she blame him for taking away her years. She would never grow old, have grandchildren, or children even. She would never have a husband or a career outside of the secret order of the church.

Even if her life were the length of nine decades, he would never be able to provide her with a child. He hadn't realized how badly he wanted to share such a simple thing as a family with the woman he loved.

Why had God created the paradox in which he found himself? A saintly-woman and a devil in love with one another; logic said it could never work. Yet, that was exactly his situation.

"Chrno?" Rosette called as she stood before her beloved. His long lavender hair was unbound and fell past his waist. His crimson eyes were far away before they focused on her. Gently, Rosette placed her hand upon his cheek and smoothed away a wisp of hair that clung to his clammy skin.

The concern that flashed in her dark blue eyes sent Chrno's heart to the pit of his belly. How could she be concerned for him when his very existence was killing her slowly?

"Are you ill?" Rosette demanded with a stomp of her foot. Her sweet demeanor vanished as her fiery personality came full throttle.

Chrno's lips twisted into a wry grin, and a fanged tooth was revealed. "I am only sick with love," he answered her in his serious, quiet voice as he trapped her hand against his cheek with his own. He slid her palm against his lips and kissed it softly.

Rosette blushed prettily, her fair skinned, blond complexion showing her embarrassment clearly.

"Let's go to that cabin," Chrno suggested. The first time he had shown Rosette the cabin he once owned deep in the woods half a century ago was in a dream world. He had gone by the cabin a few days before and prepared it for the occasion he was now suggesting. Rosette was his first true friend, even at six years old; she was wiser than her years. This was something else he felt necessary to share with her.

The look in her dark eyes revealed that she was indeed still wiser than her years would indicate. Chrno knew that within this woman there was an old soul, perhaps older than his own. He would not admit his fear to her.

He feared being separated from her. He feared that in death he would cease to exist, but he preferred that to existing without her. Or perhaps, he would return to the hell from which he came while she would go to heaven. All of the earth would separate them for all of eternity. But for the next couple of days, for she didn't have more than that, he would be with her at the cabin.

Rosette took Chrno's hand within her own and squeezed it gently, but firmly reading his thoughts as she began to lead the way to the car parked out front. "You are a good man," she began.

"I am not a man," Chrno interrupted as he watched her with a worried expression. He really didn't want her to drive. He'd like to have at least the next few days with her. With her behind the wheel even that amount of time was questionable.

Rosette cast him a sly grin at his comment and allowed her gaze to drop below his belt. "I beg to differ." This time Chrno was the one to blush. He hated that about his younger body. If he was in his true form he wouldn't blush, but he would also drain both his and Rosette's life that much sooner.

"As I was saying, you are a good man. God is a just being," Rosette continued choosing her words carefully. She knew that her life was almost at an end. Every minute was a blessing. She hadn't really given much thought to God. She lived within a holy society, but not until Aion's defeat did she truly realize the importance of God.

"Being a just being, I should expect him to punish me accordingly."

Rosette didn't speak for a long moment. "He is also forgiving." She turned to give Chnro a reassuring smile and was caught off guard when he snatched the car keys from her hands. "Hey!" She shouted as she reached past his body for the keys that he held out of her grasp.

Chrno leaned forward and touched her lips for a second with his own. It caused Rosette to stop struggling for the keys and realize that her body was crushed against that of her best friend and soul mate. "Just this once, let me drive."

Speechless, all Rosette could do was nod as she stood away from the purple haired demon.

The drive was silent and relaxing. Chrno was glad that he was the one driving through the narrow trails in the forest leading to his cabin. After he parked, he walked around the front of the vehicle to offer Rosette his hand.

Rosette's hand trembled within Chrno's grasp, and he pulled her to him. He folded her body against his as he allowed the magic of their link to change him back into his normal physical state. Soon they were no longer eye to eye, but he had grown a foot taller and his wings expanded from his shoulder blades.

The leathery wings spread out from his body to wrap around Rosette's seemingly petite form in a cocoon of protection and love. A shutter racked through his body when he felt her relax against his chest and his arms contracted possessively around her waist.

"Chrno?" Rosette whispered.

He lifted one hand away from her waist and cupped her chin to tilt her face up to his. Crimson and azure eyes locked. "Yes, Rosette?"

A tear leaked from Rosette's eye. "We don't have much time, do we?" Her bottom lip trembled, and her teeth caught it to hold it firm. The sight broke Chrno's heart a little more.

"No, we don't, my beloved," Chrno answered as he used his thumb to release her lip from her teeth. He closed the distance between their lips to kiss her softly and to kiss her breathless. He drew back only far enough to rest his forehead against her. "But we have some time yet."

Rosette attempted to smile for him as she reached her hands up to brush at his purple bangs. No longer could she run her fingers through the long expanse of his hair, as it had turned into a bone armor weapon. "We do have some time," she agreed.

Before she could react, Chrno swept her up into his arms to cradle her against his torso. He walked the rest of the distance to the cabin and carried her over the threshold. "I would have loved to have carried you over this threshold as my bride," he confessed.

Rosette sighed as she buried her face between his neck and throat. She breathed deeply the comforting scent she always associated with love from him. To Rosette, life centered on two things, one was the love of her brother and the other was her love for Chrno. "I guess that will never happen."

Chrno squeezed her against him in a hug before settling upon the large couch sitting across from the fireplace. "Rosette, I don't know how much time we have left in this life," he started.

Rosette held her index finger in front of his lips, stopping his words as she shook her head. "No, Chrno, you must live on," she smiled bravely. "Promise me that."

He lightly nipped at her finger, smirking when she pulled it back in shock. "No, my love, I will not promise that. Don't make me promise that I will have to live without you." Chrno's crimson eyes glowed bright in his fury at the idea. Before Rosette could answer he closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "I could not survive."

"Let's not think about tomorrow then. Let's just enjoy today," Rosette suggested, her bright smile was in place once again as she placed her palms on Chrno's cheeks and held his gaze. She rubbed noses with him and earned one of his rare smiles.

"Yes, let's enjoy today," Chrno agreed as he laid her gently against the couch cushions and released all the passions he held for her.

**oooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooo**

It was with a feeling of dread that Reverend Remington approached the cabin hidden deep in the woods. He noticed their car parked out front. He also noticed that there were no lights coming from inside the cabin, nor were there any voices.

He knocked on the door, though he already knew that no one would be answering. It swung open easily enough. He stepped into the darkness of the main room. He could see that a fire had been burning recently. The embers were still glowing.

Remington also saw the couple for whom he was searching. They were wrapped up with one another on the couch. Rosette was lying against Chrno with her back to his chest. The top of her head was tucked under his chin, and his arms were wrapped around her.

Their hands were both holding the pocket watch that Rosette always wore around her neck. Upon closer inspection Remington noted that time was up.

It would seem that the two had passed into eternity together. Remington's heart grew heavy with sorrow, but he had some small amount of satisfaction to know that neither was alone in the end.

As they experienced so much together in life, they experienced death together. A small smile crossed the blond man's lips as he noted their peaceful expressions. "I hope that the two of you have finally found the happiness you deserved."

He stepped outside. He would need to drive back and make arrangements for the burial of the two inside. They would want to be somewhere private and somewhere together. Perhaps under the fountain that both seemed so fond of would be a good location.

**oooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooo**

Two hundred years had passed since the day that marked the deaths of Rosette and Chrno.

The young married couple smiled at each other. The woman was blond and petite with large azure eyes and an athletic build. The husband's hair was such an odd shade of black that it could be described as violet. He stood nearly a foot taller than his wife and held his arm possessively around her shoulder.

They smiled proudly as the priest handed them back their son, wearing his white gown for his Christening. A tear slipped from the young woman's eye as she looked up at her husband, seeing his proud smile as he looked down at their son.

"Joshua," Chrno whispered, speaking the name of his first born the way that only a new father does. He met his wife's adoring gaze and shared a secret smile with her as he felt his heart soar higher than an angel's wings.


End file.
